Not driving? Then read this story

It's not just talking or texting on cellphones that can contribute to distracted driving.

ANDREW SCOTT

It's not just talking or texting on cellphones that can contribute to distracted driving.

It's fixing hair or makeup, changing a radio station, putting in a CD, cleaning up spilled coffee, turning around to check on a young child in the back seat, reading an electronic road sign or simply being lost in thought and not paying full attention.

"I once saw a woman eating a plate of spaghetti resting on the steering wheel as she was driving," said state Rep. Mario Scavello, who plans today to brainstorm with others on how to curb this problem.

During National Distracted Driving Awareness Month this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Governors Highway Safety Association is stepping up efforts to educate the public on the dangers of distracted driving.

The issue is on the agenda of today's Safe 80 Task Force public meeting scheduled for 11 a.m. in the Stroud Township municipal building.

Composed of state and county officials, state and local police representatives and others, the task force meets periodically to discuss ways of improving traffic safety on Interstate 80 and connecting roads.

The group today plans to discuss local efforts against distracted driving.

More than 40 states, including New York, Florida, Minnesota and California, are involved in efforts, such as increasing the use of social and other media to educate drivers, especially those in their teens and early 20s.

For example, New York has installed highway signs urging drivers to wait until they reach the next "text stop" to send or check text messages.

And Troop N, which covers Monroe County, has a Pocono Mountain School District program in which the school resource officer uses the annual spring mock crash to highlight the dangers of distracted driving, she said.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation awareness-raising efforts include driver safety tips, such as turning off cellphones while driving, pulling over to make any emergency calls, leaving pets at home, or properly restraining them if traveling with them in the vehicle, and never attending to young children while driving, said PennDOT spokesman Ron Young.

As part of today's distracted driving discussion, the Safe 80 Task Force plans to watch a 20-minute educational DVD, "Driven To Distraction," from Virginia-based DuPont Sustainable Solutions, which specializes in occupational and other safety awareness.

Featuring actors, the video shows scenarios in which a human embodiment of distraction sits in back seats and tempts motorists to do things, such as check cellphone messages or directions or apply lipstick, while driving, thus taking their attention from the road until crashes occur.

"Frequent mistakes a distracted driver makes may not amount to anything most of the time, but the law of averages eventually catches up with that driver," says an actor in the video. "And, no matter how experienced or confident a driver you are, that one moment, where the law of averages finally catches up, is all it takes to cause a lifetime of pain."

Such was the case with Jaswinder Singh, 32, of Parlin, N.J.

Believed to be on his cellphone at the time, Singh was witnessed speeding on Route 33 South in Hamilton Township in July 2010 when his tractor-trailer went across the median, into the northbound lanes, and hit a car driven by Paul Miller, 21, of Scranton, killing Miller instantly.

Singh later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced in March 2013 to one to three years in state prison.

"When you drive, it's vital that you keep your eyes on the road, your hands on the wheel and your mind fully on the task at hand," she said. "Nothing can bring my son back, so I do what I can to make others aware so that they don't suffer the same tragedy."

As far as strengthening enforceable laws against distracted driving, state Rep. Rosemary Brown said she would support a ban on drivers using hand-held cellphones and a ban on novice drivers with learners' permits using hand-held or hands-free phones.

Police can be more proactive in detecting distracted drivers, but it's a challenging task, said Pocono Mountain Regional Police Lt. Will Laverty.

"When investigating a crash involving serious injury or death, police can seize and, through the driver's consent or a search warrant, check cellphone records to see if the driver was sending messages at the time of the crash," Laverty said. "If they were, they can be charged."

Pocono Township Police Kent Werkheiser agrees it all comes down to driving habits.

"Some people take driving safely and responsibly more seriously than others do," said Werkheiser. "Those who take it less seriously tend to have the lapses in concentration that can prove fatal."

That's why Scavello and others believe the best tact is education.

"There are just some decisions drivers make that we can't enforce or legislate against," he said. "The most effective thing we can do is to keep reminding people, especially new drivers, to not make those bad decisions. If more people heed these messages, that's better than any law we can ever pass."